Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale...

Saturday July 12th I decided to rent a boat and luckily everyone else wanted to pitch in and so off we went.... Brian had a lot of fun catching pinfish after pinfish but c'mon, get something else!

Jan and I were the designated drivers but Vikki soon took over the wheel. I think it had a little to do with control but she said she just wanted to drive. hmmmmmm


We anchored a few times so that Brian could concentrate on fishing and we watched the dolphins swim around the boat. There are great numbers of them all around Englewood and even where there is a lot of boat action. So fun to watch and you can hear their blowspots when they surface. One treated us to a body surf in as well - four times he slapped the side of his body on the waves as he rode in towards the beach. Of course I didn't have the camera that time. Oh well. I remember it! The pic of Vik above is taken just inside Stump's Pass. It is a great fishing spot and also fun to watch the boats.
Vikki and Andy enjoying the view of Manasota Key and Stump's Pass in Englewood, Florida.
We anchored just inside Stump's Pass near the mangroves (MY IDEA, yes, I will take credit for that one) and Brian quickly started pulling in the Mangrove Snappers. He had five but one jumped right off the hook and into the water. Lucky one.

The weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was tossed, if not for the courage of Vikki driving, the SeaCat would be lost. The Seacat would be lost. Ok, enough.
Actually, the dark clouds were rolling in (JULY - HURRICANE season - FLORIDA!) and we had about 30 minutes left of our rental. We told Brian that no more baiting the hook, we had to get back. So, what happened? Here's where the real tale begins!!! (finally, you say).
Well, Brian caught a BEAUTIFUL snook! Jan helped him pull it in and I snapped this picture. Snook are out of season now (spawing) so it is strictly catch and release.

As they were working to get the fish off the line..... Brian had a small catastrophe:

Pretty gross huh. Yeah, he's smiling now but he has no idea what awaits him at the dock. I am hearing rumblings about 'taking him to the emergency room' etc. and all he really needs is a pair of cutters to get that barb outta the way.
So, Vikki does an EXCELLENT job of guiding boat back to the dock and the owners ask how was the day. Everyone said it was great. I said, check out his paw! The two sprung into action and quickly performed a hook-en-dectomy. I couldn't watch so I just randomly took pics with my eyes closed. The shrieks and moans were enough for me. hee-hee Actually, Brian did awesome without novacaine. He was a little stressed and it prolly felt like it took an hour to get the damn hook out but he survived and so did the paw. Brian fileted (is that spelled correctly!?!) his snapper and I understand Vikki fried them (after I left of course) and a feast was had by all.

Boat rental four hours: 195.00
Bait: 8.00
Look on Brian's face when approached by two men with pliers: Priceless